Draw Poker Betting Rules
Five card draw is the original way to play the game of poker and one of the easiest. It's the perfect option for a casual poker night and can be played as long as you like. With just a few tips and a review of the basic rules, you and your friends can be playing in a matter of minutes.
The best five-card poker hand wins the pot. A variation of five-card draw is 'Jacks or Better' in which players must have at least a pair of jacks in order to open the betting, while other variations include the use of the joker as a partially wild card. For more information on these variations, read Robert's Rules of Poker. After the first betting round each player may discard and draw from zero to five cards. Each bet and raise during the final round of betting is set at the higher limit of the stakes structure. For example in a $4/$8 game, all bets and raises are $8 for the last round. The maximum allowable number of bets per player during any particular betting. Usually this limit varies with the stage of the game: In Draw Poker, if the limit is five before the draw, it might be ten after the draw. In Stud Poker, if the limit is five in the first four betting intervals, it is 10 in the final betting interval (and often ten whenever a player has a pair or better showing).
What You Need
A game of five card draw requires at least two players, though you can play with up to eight people. You will need a regular deck of cards and a set of poker chips.
You don't need a fancy poker table, either. Your dining room table, a picnic table, or any flat surface that you can all fit around will work just fine.
How to Play a Game of Five Card Draw
Of all the variations of poker you can play, five card draw is among the simplest. There are no special rules or complicated deals to worry about. It is quite simply a good, old-fashioned way to play poker.
Before you begin, review a list of hand rankings. Each player needs to understand what cards go together to create a flush, straight, and so on. The rankings also tell you which hands are the highest ranking so that you know who wins.
- Players ante up by placing a small, initial bet in the pot. The pot is typically just a pile of chips placed in the middle of the table.
- The dealer deals each player five cards, placing them face down. Begin with the player to the dealer's left and deal one card to each player, going around the table until everyone is holding five cards.
- Every player picks up their cards from the table and checks out their hand while not revealing it to other players.
- Again, starting with the player to the dealer’s left, players begin placing their bets. Your options are to fold (give up on this hand, losing the chips you placed in the pot), check (pass on this round of betting), call (match another player's bet), or raise (increase the highest bet given so far).
- When the betting is done, those who are still in the hand get to trade in one, two, or three cards from their hand for new (and hopefully better) cards. If a player has an ace, he can trade in the other four cards in his hand but it's a common rule that he must show the ace to everyone.
Note: You don’t have to trade any cards. If you already have a good hand, you’ll want to “stand pat” and keep the cards you were first dealt. - After everyone receives their new cards, another round of betting takes place, starting to the dealer's left.
- After the betting is completed, players show their hands. The best hand wins the pot.
The game continues in this manner. You can change dealers with each hand, moving around the table to the left.
The game is done when all players but one run out of chips or when you simply need to call it a night and head home.
Astonishingly easy to learn and play, 5 Card Draw has very simple rules and a short learning curve meaning you can start learning the game and playing the game at a high level very quickly.
No community cards to share, no complicated betting calculations ... just straight-forward bets, one round of draws and the best 5-card hand wins at showdown.
5 Card Draw is still a popular choice for poker home games but you can also find it at a variety of online poker sites to to play for real money. If you've never played 5-card draw before or if you're a little hazy on how the 5-card draw rules work, here's a quick refresher.
How to Play 5 Card Draw
5-Card Draw Rules - Blinds or Antes?
A hand of 5 Card Draw begins with the player to the left of the dealer putting in (usually) half of the big bet at the table, called the small blind. The player to his or her left then puts in a full bet, called a big blind.
In a poker home game these blinds can be set however you like with pretty common stakes being from 5c/10c to $1/$2. Online, most real-money 5-Card Draw poker games are played at the very microstakes with blinds of 1c/2c or 2c/5c.
You will rarely find 5-Card Draw tournaments so most 5-Card Draw rules will focus on cash-games exclusively.
Another common way to start a game of 5-Card Draw - especially in home games - is to just have a set 'ante' that everyone must pay before the start of the hand.
Players can also set the rules for how the bets can progress. You can either play:
- Fixed Limit (bets are restricted to increments of the big blind)
- Pot-Limit (maximum bet at any time is the size of the current pot)
- No-Limit (any amount of chips can be bet at any time
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5 Card Draw Rules - The Deal
Once the ante or blinds are paid players may then receive their cards for the hand.
Each player then receives 5 cards all dealt face down. As mentioned there are no community cards in 5 Card Draw so all cards are dealt to each player individually.
The objective in 5-Card Draw is simply to make the best 5-card poker hand or, of course, have your opponent fold to a bet. Once you have your 5 cards you can arrange them in your hand accordingly to what set poker hand you already have or by which cards you're planning to get rid of.
In a poker home game, once an entire round of 5-Card Draw plays out the deal then passes on to the next player to the left. In a casino or online the dealer obviously doesn't change but a dealer button moves around the table to the left in sequence after each hand.
5 Card Draw Rules - The First Betting Round
Once all of the cards have been dealt to each play, play proceeds clockwise beginning with the player to the left of the big blind (in a blinds game) or the player to the left of the dealer (ante game).
Each player then has the option to either call, raise or fold. If the player in front of you folds, you have the option to fold, call the amount of the big blind (called 'limping in' or raise the bet.
If the player in front of you bets you can match that bet ('call') or raise.
Once the action has gone all the way around the table and returns to the small blind, the small blind can either fold, 'complete' the bet to the full amount of the big blind or match/raise any previous bets.
The big blind has the option to check (if no one has bet more than the original blind amount) or raise, or call, raise or fold if there has been a raise already.
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Rules of 5 Card Draw - The Draw
Once all of the bets have been matched in the first round of betting, the draw round begins.
Starting to the left of the dealer (who is in the position known as 'the button') players now discard as many cards as they wish. The dealer then deals however many replacement cards requested.
Players can discard none ('stand pat'), 1, 2, 3, 4 or all 5 of their cards.
Rules of 5 Card Draw - The Final Betting Round
Once all players have discarded their desired number of cards and received replacements for their discards, there is another round of betting beginning with the player to the left of the dealer (or the next closest player still in the hand).
Draw Poker Betting Rules Card Game
Each player has the same betting actions as in the first round. When all players have called all bets or folded, there is a showdown (cards are revealed) between any remaining hands and the best 5 card poker hand wins the pot.
If you need a refresher on the Poker Hand Rankings, check our hand rankings below:
- Royal Flush (A, K, Q, J, 10 all of same suit)
- Straight Flush. (5 cards in sequence all in same suit - eg 7h-8h-9h-Th-Jh)
- Four of a Kind. (All four cards of same rank)
- Full House. (3 cards of one rank alongside 2 cards of another - eg. 6h-6s-6d-8d-8c)
- Flush (All 5 cards or one suit, any rank)
- Straight (A sequence of 5 cards of rank, any suit - eg, 2h-3d-4c-5s-6c)
- Three of a kind (3 cards or any one rank, two unmatched cards)
- Two pair (Two different pairs plus one unmatched card)
- One pair (One pair of equal rank, 3 unmatched cards)
- High Card (all unmatched cards ranked by the highest single card)
5 Card Draw Rules - Game Variations
5-Card Draw - Antes
As mentioned above, in some 5 card draw variations players all ante instead of putting up blinds. In these games a player is usually required to have at least a pair of jacks in his hand before he can bet at the pot.
If all players decline to bet players muck their cards, re-ante and receive a new deal.
5-Card Draw - Maximum Discard of 3 Cards
In some 5-card draw home games players opt to cap the amount of cards you can draw at 3. That means that you must keep at least 2 of the first 5 cards you are dealt.
5-Card Draw - Multiple Draws
In some 5-card draw rules you can have a second round of drawing after the second round of betting.
Play 5-Card Draw online, free!
For poker beginners who want to learn how to play 5-Card Draw, your best option is to try the free 5-Card Draw poker games at PokerStars. PokerStars offers the most game variety of any online poker site and gives you the opportunity to learn how to play in its lay-money games.
You will still need to register an official account at PokerStars (and be of legal age) but you aren't required to make any kind of deposit or financial investment to play. Simple look for the 'Instant Play' or 'Play Money' games tab in the lobby.
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